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GRANGEVILLE – Priest River’s Sawyer Staudt broke an 84-yard touchdown run on the first play of the game against 3A Central Idaho League opponent Grangeville Friday. He followed it up with a successful 2-point conversion run.
That got the game off to a good start, but Grangeville’s older players showed their experience, Priest River coach Alex Zapeda says.
“We knew going into this week that Grangeville would be a tough opponent,” he says. “As defending league champions with 12 seniors returning, compared to our four, they had an experienced edge.”
Grangeville answered with their own first quarter touchdown in the but missed the extra point. The Spartans led at the end of the first quarter.
The Bulldogs continued scoring in the second quarter, adding another TD. But that’s where it stayed until later in the game.
“I’m proud of how our boys fought through the first three quarters, with the score at 14-8 for most of the game,” Zapeda says. “I believe the fact that this was our first game, while it was their second, had an impact in the later stages. We ran out of gas and gave up too many points in the fourth quarter. The final score doesn’t reflect how close this game really was.”
Staudt rushed for 135 yards on 25 carries. On defense, Colton Kuprienko had eight tackles, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble. Layton Goins had a half dozen tackles and Gavin Griesemer had five tackles, including one for a loss.
Priest River next goes to Newport Friday, Sept. 13, for a 7 p.m. game.
